08/24/24: I must say here that I didn't raise the point --- the entire quote and 100% of the credit goes to Walter Kirn. And Noam must read at a clip of about 1000 words/minute in order to be able to do what he recommends. Maybe in the past I could have done likewise, but as the years fly by, the talents one by one fly away, very gradually but undeniably (something that could also be said at the time of Alexander The Great when he was bulldozing his way through Persia. but only if beset by financial inflation).